In the early 19th century Robert Owen, the Welsh factory owner and social reformer, coined the phrase “Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest.”
It was the birth of the nine-to-five working day, a concept that was quite revolutionary at the time because most people worked for between ten and 16 hours a day, six days a week.
It took more than a century for the concept to become ubiquitous but has since become embedded in our culture, immortalised in Dolly Parton’s classic song.
Yet the traditional nine to five is dying out as the mass adoption of hybrid working has allowed employees to tailor their hours to better suit their lifestyles, according to research. A study has found that three quarters of hybrid workers say they no longer stick rigidly to nine to five.
The study questioned more than 2,000 Britons who worked in an office five days a week before the pandemic but now split their time between the office and home. More than four in five of these workers said they now had more freedom to tailor their schedules and as a result, most choose to start their day earlier or later.
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Early starts have become the norm for most, with 43 per cent saying they began their day at 8am or before. One in ten choose not to log on until after 9.30pm.
The study found that hybrid staff worked one hour less a week on average than they did when they came to an office five days a week. Three quarters said they were now using the time previously spent commuting doing things that help them achieve a better work-life balance.
More than half said they spent the time seeing more of their family while just under half said they used the time to exercise.
Three quarters said they were saving money by commuting less with two thirds saying that their mental health had improved as a result of the increased flexibility of their working life.
Hybrid working was turbocharged during the pandemic with 44 per cent of the workforce now spending at least some of their working week at home, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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The practice has become so popular that it has become a core requirement for many looking at new jobs. The majority (71 per cent) of hybrid workers say they would not now be willing to accept a new job or position that involved a long commute.
Mark Dixon, the chief executive of IWG, the workplace provider that commissioned the research, said: “This study underlines that hybrid working is empowering employees to work more flexibly and enjoy a better quality of life. Not only that, but it is a win-win for businesses too, providing meaningful savings to the bottom line through a reduced real estate footprint and enabling them to hire the best talent.”
He added: “Freeing workers from the bind of a long, unproductive, and expensive journey several times a week … is the greatest boost, not only to performance and productivity but also employee happiness.”
